Didsbury is renowned for its affluence, with its leafy streets, Victorian redbrick houses and independent cafes serving pricey lattes. However, this south Manchester suburb, along with its neighbouring enclaves, is grappling with an issue not typically associated with such prosperous areas: air pollution.

The sight of car queues and bus fleets emitting diesel fumes has become a common occurrence on its high street, the initial stretch of the Wilmslow Road bus corridor, often dubbed one of Europe's busiest. The M. E. N. previously reported that data obtained by campaign group Mums for Lungs revealed that nearly 8,500 children received treatment at specialist paediatric respiratory services at Manchester University Foundation NHS Trust over the past two years.

These hospitals include Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Wythenshawe Hospital, and North Manchester General. The number of under-18s attending hospital increased by 520 in just 12 months, while the figures for children under three receiving treatment for specialist respiratory medicine surged by 33 percent (654 to 872), reports the Manchester Evening News.

Campaigners have highlighted the specific impact pollution can have on children, as they are closer to the ground and breathe more rapidly. In Didsbury, opinions on local pollution levels vary among residents. Some parents and carers interviewed by the M. E. N. on Thursday (April 24) downplayed the issue. One woman, caring for her nephew, expressed disbelief: "Are you sure you mean round here? Try Bury or Rochdale."

Another local acknowledged the problem but felt it wasn't the worst in the area: "I think it is a bit of a problem, but I don't think it's the worst area for it," adding that other parts of Manchester suffer more. However, many instantly recognised and agreed that pollution was a concern when approached about the subject. Victoria, a 40 year old mother, voiced her worries while strolling with her baby daughter: "With two young children, pollution is definitely a concern," she said. "There are loads of cars around here."

She expressed particular frustration with drivers idling their engines near schools: "What annoys me most is the people that sit with their engines idling outside schools. There's no point to it - they're just sat there texting. I've actually told a few of them to turn their engines off a few times."

When choosing a nursery, Victoria considered pollution levels, recounting an interaction with one establishment: "I asked one on a main road near here what the pollution rate was for their school, because the kids play outside in the playground. They said they didn't even know."

Dissatisfied with the response, she decided against sending her children there: "I thought, I'm not sending my kids here. So we went elsewhere." Gazing at the buses bustling by, she commented: "They're the price we pay for having such good transport links, which are part of the reason why we've stayed around here."

Across the street, Daniel and Lia, pushing their 11-month-old in a pram, have been Palatine Road residents for three years. They expressed concern despite not being directly affected health-wise yet, particularly because of their child: "We're lucky not to be affected by any health issues yet," they admitted. "But we are worried about it, especially with a young child."

The couple is all too aware of the area's heavy traffic and the attendant pollution. "Palatine Road can be really busy and we definitely notice the pollution. Sometimes you come out of the house and you can even smell it. I think we'd like to live in a bit of a quieter area long term."

Just around the corner on School Lane, another local mother expressed her concerns after picking up her daughter from school. She observed the air quality closely: "I've looked at calculators and it really is quite high around here," she noted. Her daughter notices the pollution en route to school, as does she, especially when they leave the urban environment: "My daughter says she can smell it when she's walking to school. But you really notice it when you go away, somewhere more rural, and the air just smells cleaner."

She surmised that both traffic and domestic wood-burning stoves contribute to the problem, expressing a sentiment shared by many parents: "I think it's mainly traffic and wood-burning stoves, which can be as polluting as vehicles. It's definitely a worry - and not just because I have young children."

Although welcoming the idea of fewer cars on the road, this resident also understood the potential challenges of such changes. Caitlin, a 34 year old nurse currently on maternity leave, expressed her concerns regarding the local public transport services. "We're lucky around here because we've got trams, buses and trains - but not everyone can get to where they need to go on public transport," she observed.

Pointing out the connectivity issues on the outskirts of Manchester, Caitlin mentioned: "It depends on where you go, but the outskirts of Manchester are definitely worse served. There seems to be a real gap between Manchester and Stockport especially - if you want to get from Didsbury to Bramhall, for example, there's one train an hour."

While pushing her pram past the Slug and Lettuce, Caitlin, who had a baby seven months ago, talked about witnessing the impact of poor air quality in her professional life. "I see it so much at work - so many people come in with respiratory issues, especially in winter," she remarked.

Highlighting the strain on the NHS worsened by pollution, she added, "It's already bad enough, and if you add in pollution as well, it becomes a concern for the NHS as well. They're already under a lot of strain." Noticing the heavy traffic in the area, Caitlin suggested: "It's crazy busy with the traffic around here," further proposing, "I think it would be nice if more areas were pedestrianised, like maybe Burton Road." She noted the risks associated with the bustling road, saying, "That road is always so busy, and so many children and families are constantly crossing it."

The conversation then turned towards the changes in street activity during school pickup times, highlighting the pronounced traffic congestion in the neighbourhood with: 'No-one walks, everyone drives'. With six schools within a mile radius, the increase in vehicles becomes apparent as early as three in the afternoon.

The school run has become an arduous trek for many families, who were spotted heading home on foot; mums and dads laden with glitter-adorned backpacks, guiding their young ones or accompanying them as they scooted and cycled in full safety regalia. Yet, the joy of family time contended with the ever-increasing congestion, with a father strolling by remarking unfazed, "It's the way of the world now," adding that walking seems to be a forgotten art as "No-one walks around the corner anymore. Everyone drives."

A rushed mother did not mince her words when she said, "It's definitely an issue," lamenting over the crowded streets and proximity to schools, just before running after her tricycle-giddy son.

She expressed her wish for increased walkability, saying, "We live nearby and always try and walk to school unless I've got to go to work afterwards. But I think more people would walk or cycle if it felt safer," suggesting that creating a safer environment might encourage more walking and cycling.

Another suggestion for improvement came from a lady, passionate about the topic, stating the need for separated pathways: "There's so many schools nearby, it would be really nice if there was a bike path off the roads - a safe place where parents and children could walk."

Recollections of the idyllic lockdown quietness and fresh air from a woman who works with children brought an environmental edge, as she reminisced, "If you remember lockdown, the roads were quiet, and the air was beautiful," envisioning greener, more breathable spaces. Traffic chaos in Didsbury has exploded into a crisis, according to a local resident who expressed her exasperation: "Now, the traffic is so bad around here - I would actually say Didsbury is one of the worst areas."

She spoke out about the impact on her daily life, including disruptions caused by congested streets and back roads plagued with vehicles. There's even an issue right at her doorstep: "I really make the effort to walk to work but the streets and back roads are full of cars. People even park in front of my house to do the school run."

More worrying, she correlates the high volume of traffic to health problems among children she works with, claiming: "I work with children and so many of the kids have got coughs and sniffles, really chesty coughs and colds. They've had them for months and they don't go away. They go to the doctors who say it's a viral infection - but I think they're all affected by pollution."

Described as 'An epidemic', Manchester's air quality troubles add layers to these alarming observations. DEFRA's statistics from 2023 indicate that Manchester has topped the charts for the worst air pollution levels in the country, surpassing the annual government limit for nitrogen dioxide of 40μg m−3 with a reading of 55 μg m−3.

In a controversial move inviting ire from environmentalists, Manchester was ordered by the UK government to meet air pollution regulations by 2024, yet campaigners argue this target took a significant hit as 'the Mayor scrapped the planned Clean Air Zone in December 2023'. The situation appears dire, with DEFRA data revealing that nitrogen dioxide levels in Manchester rose by six per cent between 2021 to 2023, marking it as the only local authority with legal limit exceedances still on an upwards trend.

Liz Godfrey, a mother of two and leader of the Manchester Mums for Lungs group, has voiced her concerns about the city's air quality. She stated: "We have an epidemic of serious lung problems and respiratory illnesses amongst our youngest and most vulnerable in our city, we need politicians like Andy Burnham and city councillors to take action urgently to protect little lungs." She also highlighted the nearly half a million polluting diesel vehicles on Manchester's roads, calling for a comprehensive plan to mitigate their impact and improve air quality.

Despite assurances from Greater Manchester politicians that a non-charging clean air zone will be effective, Liz argues that current evidence suggests otherwise. She said: "The Mayor and other politicians in Greater Manchester assure us that plans for a non-charging clean air zone will work. However all the evidence – from illegal levels of pollution to children struggling to breathe in our hospitals – shows that it lacks ambition and won't go nearly far enough to succeed in cutting illegal levels of pollution. We want to work with the Mayor and others on a new plan that cleans up our air."

However, Clean Air Greater Manchester told the M. E. N. that recent data indicates a decrease in pollution levels across the region, and TfGM remains dedicated to improving air quality.

Mayor Andy Burnham also weighed in on the issue, stating that a charging Clean Air Zone would not have significantly impacted pollution levels. He acknowledged the concerns raised by Mums for Lungs, saying: "[Mums for Lungs] are right to raise the health impact on kids of poor air quality. We can't turn away from the issue.

"Five years ago, we had 129 locations where there was too much nitrogen dioxide in the air, above the legal limit. It's fallen by half, there are 64 now and it's coming down all the time as we bring in more and more electric buses to the Bee Network. That's the biggest change that's driving this reduction. There's no complacency here. For those that say we should have had a charging Clean Air Zone, the conclusion we reached was it would have not made the difference because it would have trapped people paying a charge but unable to afford to change their vehicle. It would not have achieved the clean air goal in the way that we all want to see." Mr Burnham also highlighted how the region's new transport network would help tackle these issues.

"The Bee Network is the answer," he asserted. "It does not just deal with nitrogen dioxide out of the exhaust pipe. It also reduces particulates – the stuff in the air that comes from brakes and tyres, that's another part of air pollution. By getting more people on public transport, you reduce the number of cars, you therefore reduce particulates as well. We say that's a much better way of reducing air pollution. Electric buses are entering service all the time, and air pollution is dropping week by week."